Opportunity NOW

“We want to connect youth to hope, and that means connecting them to opportunity and jobs. I want for our youth what I want for everyone in our city – a chance to succeed.”
– Mayor Megan Barry

Opportunity NOW is a coordinated initiative launched by Mayor Megan Barry to provide young people in Davidson County access to employment. In Nashville, we have seen fewer and fewer teenagers and young adults working during the summers and after-school. At the same time, Nashville employers across various industries are concerned about the lack of “soft” skills among their youngest employees—skills most readily learned through actual work experience.

The initiative was created based on recommendations from the Mayor’s Youth Violence Summit as a way to connect youth to opportunity and to hope. Opportunity NOW is designed to combat the growing gap in opportunity and will become the much needed system for delivering employment and employment-like opportunities for young people.

Helping to implement the Mayor’s initiative is the Nashville Career Advancement Center (NCAC), a division of the Mayor’s Office and the city agency for workforce development. NCAC coordinates closely with Mayor Barry and her Advisory Council for the program.